Róisín Murphy says she will ‘never be the same again’ – two years after facing backlash for puberty blocker remarks

Róisín Murphy says she will “never be the same again” – two years after facing backlash over her remarks about puberty blockers.

The Irish singer came under fire in 2023 over a Facebook post in which she claimed “big pharma” was handing puberty blockers to “mixed-up little kids”, describing the hormones as “f**ked”.

Puberty blockers are medications that temporarily pause certain effects of puberty in transgender people under 18. According to the NHS, their effects are considered physically reversible.

“To say I’ll never be the same again is an understatement” – Róisín Murphy on backlash over her puberty blocker remarks

This week, Murphy revisited the controversy on Twitter, highlighting The Guardian’s five-star review of her album Hit Parade, which described the record as “masterful… with an ugly stain”, referencing the public furore.

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“My album came out two years ago today, in the middle of a controversy,” she wrote. “Having been told previously by music journalists that it was already ‘album of the year’, when the controversy broke I was instructed by the same people to admit ‘ignorance’ and apologise or face a drop in scores.

“These messages were passed on to me by my then record label, Ninja Tune. I have the receipts. This is not journalism or criticism, it’s authoritarianism. The record did indeed suffer revised scores across the board and was left off the end-of-year lists.

“It wasn’t just upsetting but also very frightening to see how the whole of the music media, in tandem, were able and willing to punish a work of art for the sake of activism. To say I’ll never be the same again is an understatement. Props to The Guardian for not changing the five-star score. But the piece itself is rotten to the core and the record was never again mentioned by them. I really hope one day that changes.”

Murphy had long cultivated a loyal LGBTQ+ fan base

Following the backlash, Murphy apologised that her comments “have been hurtful to so many of you” and said she would “bow out of this conversation”.

Well, those reports were unconfirmed by the label. They have made no official statement whatsoever and they are not intending to donate proceeds from the record to charity. I checked!

— Róisín Murphy (@roisinmurphy) September 8, 2023

Speaking to France24 last year, she described the fallout as minor, mostly involving a few refunded tickets. Murphy had long cultivated a loyal LGBTQ+ fan base, regularly performing at queer events and championing drag culture.

She also refuted claims that Ninja Tune would donate Hit Parade’s proceeds to pro-trans charities.

Murphy has replied to a fan on X: “Well, those reports were unconfirmed by the label. They have made no official statement whatsoever and they are not intending to donate proceeds from the record to charity. I checked!”